Heaven in a Bite

Found this incredible recipe for Red Velvet Cake Balls courtesy of www.bakerella.com
We recently made these for a friends birthday and they were devoured within minutes. I still dream about these. Whether you are a Red Velvet Cake fanatic or just an enthusiast you will grow to crave these.

Recipe below:
(you can chose either covered in semi-sweet chocolate or white chocolate)

 

Red Velvet Cake Balls
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)
I also only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot.
Source: http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake-balls/

Everything is easier when cooked in one pot...

Chicken Veggie Curry

... well maybe two. Over the past year an half my roommate and I have realized that when cooking for a crowd it is best if you try to limit your cooking to as few pots as possible. The benefits: Easy Clean Up!!!! Also, these dishes tend to be what I like to call "stir once, walk away and let it do its thing" - they take care of themselves. Lastly, they are great leftover meals that are easy to re-heat for lunch or dinner the next day.

some of our favorite dishes include:

• Chicken and veggie curry with steamed white rice

•  For the curry we use S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix Medium (also available in mild or hot). You can find this in the international section of your local supermarket
• you can incorporate any veggies you like but we have found the following to work best: potatoes, green beans, carrots, peppers (red and green) and zucchini
• for the rest of the cooking instruction follow the instruction on the sauce mix box

• Meat and Veggie Lasagna
•  Follow the assembly directions and cooking time of the noodle package
• Ingredients needed: meat pasta sauce, no-boil lasagna noodles, mozzarella, ricotta, grated zucchini and broccoli. 
• Tips:
• add a small amount of sauce to the bottom of the pan before the first layer. this will prevent the first layer of noodle to stick to the pan.
• using grated zucchini adds nutritious veggies to the dish as well as a nice texture. not to mention since it is grated picky eaters who don't veggies don't notice it
• Meat sauce options - 
1. if you have the time and know-how make your own
2. store bought
3. my recommendation: befriend the manager/chef of your favorite small and local Italian restaurant and ask if you can buy their meat sauce. most of the time they will agree and you can bring your own Tupperware for them to put it in. buy plenty and keep it fresh by storing it in the freezer. 

Cookie Craving

Ever had a craving in the middle of the afternoon for some warm chocolate chip cookies? I have them all the time but I rarely have the time to bake a batch even if they are from the package. However, the other day we had the brilliant idea to just buy a package of already baked cookies and just heat them up in the counter-top oven (have I mention how much I love that appliance).
The cookies came out great and the apartment smelled like home.
Important note though they only have to be heated up for less than 5 minutes at 350 degrees. I learned this the hard way... the first three cookies went straight to the trash.

Second try... Success!